Prayer and Discipline

Et quando in unum cum fratribus convenimus, et sacrificia divina cum Dei sacerdote celebramus, verecundiae et disciplinae memores esse debemus, non passim ventilare preces nostras inconditis vocibus, nec petitionem commendandam modeste Deo tumultuosa loquacitate jactare, quia Deus non vocis sed cordis auditor est. Nec admonendus est clamoribus qui cogitationes hominum videt, probante Domino et dicente: Quid cogitatis nequam in cordibus vestris? Et alio loco: Et scient omnes ecclessiae quia ego sum scrutator renis et cordis. Quod Anna, in primo Regnorum libro, Ecclesiae typum portans, custodit et servat: quae Dominum non clamosa petitione, sed tacite et modeste intra ipsas pectoris latebras precabatur. Loquebatur prece occulta, sed manifesta fide; loquebatur, non voce, sed corde, quia sic Deum sciebat audire: et impetravit efficaciter quod petiit, quia fideliter postulavit. Declarat Scriptura Divina quae dicit: 'Loquebatur in corde suo, et labia ejus movebantur, et vox ejus non audiebatur; et exaudivit eam Deus.' Sanctus Cyprianus, Liber de Oratione Dominica Migne PL 4.522

And when we meet together to celebrate the divine sacrifices with God's priest, we should be mindful of modesty and discipline, not brandishing our prayers everywhere with raucous voices, nor launching at God in a torrent of verbosity a petition that should be commended by modesty, for God is not the hearer of the voice but of the heart. Nor does He need clamorous reminders who sees the thoughts of men, as the Lord proves, saying, 'Why do you think evil in your hearts?' 1 And in another place: 'And all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the interior and the hearts of men.' 2 All which Hannah in the first book of Kings, she who was a type of the Church, maintains and observes, for she prayed to God not with noisy petition but with quietness and modesty, from the hidden chambers of her heart. She spoke with hidden prayer but with manifest faith. She spoke not with her voice but with her heart, because she knew that thus God hears; and so she effectually obtained what she sought, because she asked for it with faith. Which Divine Scripture declares, saying, 'She spoke in her heart, and her lips moved, but her voice was not heard, and the Lord heard her.' 3 Saint Cyprian, from On The Lord's Prayer  1 Lk 5.22 2 Apoc 2.23  3 1 Kings 1.13